By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Drug dealers in the Tel Aviv suburb of Givat Shmuel came up with an unusual means to disguise their stockpile of hashish - by decorating their Mitsubishi jeep where most of the contraband was stashed with "just married" ribbons.
But the ruse didn't fool detectives from the Tel Aviv Central Unit, who had been watching the area for days before finally moving in for the arrest on Thursday, seizing the drugs and a number of handguns as well as a stun grenade.
In total, 63 kilograms of hashish were seized by police, while more drugs - including cocaine - and arms were found in the apartment of one of the suspects.
Despite the arrests and seizures, lawyers acting on behalf of two of the suspects claimed the jeep really was intended to carry a bride and groom.
Detectives were acting on intelligence leading to the drug dealers, who were operating out of an apartment in the mainly student-populated Condo-Tower building, near Bar-Ilan University.
Police said the apartment was probably used as a transit stop for drugs smuggled into the south of the country and moved northwards towards the center.
From there, the hashish was divided up and sold to local dealers, as well to private buyers.
Five suspects are in custody, according to police, three from Mitzpe Ramon and two from Holon.
The suspects have been tracked by police for a while, and one man under arrest has already served two-thirds of a previous prison sentence. He was wearing an electronic tag when he was arrested again on Thursday.
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